Show can be MAGIC for apparel companies

Inside the Las Vegas Convention Center, performance apparel company RYU is ready to build on its recent momentum.

The company came to exhibit at MAGIC this week on the heels of its recent hiring of the former chairman, president and CEO of The Sports Authority, David Campisi.

Campisi, who joined RYU's board in March, is now RYU chairman and CEO, replacing Christopher Martens, who resigned, according to company officials.

Campisi said he plans to use existing business relationships to help elevate the brand, but that he wants to expand the company's offerings into other areas of training besides martial arts, including clothing for CrossFit , football and yoga workouts. Campisi also said he's hoping MAGIC will give the company some much-needed exposure.

The Men's Apparel Guild in California, the twice-yearly fashion conference known as MAGIC, is in Las Vegas through Thursday, taking over the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. The convention attracted an estimated 81,000 attendees and will bring a nongaming economic impact of $103.1 million to Las Vegas, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

MAGIC is contracted to come to Las Vegas until August 2015. The show has been in Las Vegas since it started in 1989.

"We get to welcome the world of fashion not just once, but twice a year (in February an in August) to Las Vegas," said Chris Meyer, vice president of sales for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority. "That means a lot. The show supports thousands of local jobs and pumps millions of dollars into our economy. The fact that MAGIC happens in Las Vegas year after year shows our value as a business destination."

And for companies such as RYU seeking name recognition, MAGIC is the place to be.

"A startup has to get themselves into a place like MAGIC," Campisi said. "Our goals at MAGIC are to get in front of the right people. We have to start somewhere and we think this is the place to do it."

And the timing's right for RYU's company plans. The brand in October will open its first company store in The Shoppes at the Palazzo, a mall chosen for its Las Vegas locale and access to the tourist market.

RYU is an official sponsor of the UFC, a significant factor in the decision to start in retail in that organization's home city. The brand is now sold at MMA Warehouse, online and in a few small stores. As the company grows, Campisi said he wants 50 percent of sales to come directly from the brand's own stores and website and the other half through its wholesale division.

Elsewhere at MAGIC, the convention centers are filled with industry workshops, seminars and row upon row of exhibitors. This year, exhibitors included hat makers, bathing suit manufacturers, sportswear makers, retail buyers and a Las Vegas-centric brand hoping to build on recent success.

Las Vegas-based Bettie Page Clothing, founded in 2007, has something to celebrate. The company, owned by Tatyana Designs, specializes in apparel, jewelry, accessories and gifts designs inspired by the 1950's and Bettie Page.

Next month it will open its ninth boutique, in Philadelphia, which coincides with the launch of its new fall line. The company operates two stores in Vegas.

Last year Bettie Page Clothing posted $8 million in revenue, and retail sales are up 55 percent for the first five months of 2012.

In addition to its retail boutiques, Bettie Page Clothing operates an e-commerce business and a wholesale division that sells to independent stores in 28 countries. Recently, The Bettie Page Estate granted the business an extension on the licensing of Page's name and likeness through 2030.

Contact reporter Laura Carroll at lcarroll@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4588.